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Saying there's a chance: Dennis Seidenberg would be huge addition for Bruins late in postseason

We aren't the type to get carried away with speculation, but since the Bruins won't close the door on Dennis Seidenberg possibly returning late in the postseason, neither will we.

The bullet-points of the story: Seidenberg tore his ACL and MCL when he collided with Cory Conacher on Dec. 27. After the team announced he was out for the season, he underwent surgery on Jan. 7 with an expected recovery time of six-to-eight months.

On Monday, Seidenberg could be seen working out -- some type of squat exercise with resistance bands -- and appeared to be going pretty hard. That led to some speculation, and Cam Neely dodged a question about it on The Sports Hub. Friday morning, Pierre McGuire went on WEEI and cited people close to Seidenberg as telling him that "there's a chance that he might be back for the playoffs."

Peter Chiarelli had the most telling words, however, telling Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe that the team wasn't expecting Seidenberg to play in the postseason, but that the player was ahead of schedule in his recovery and that the team would treat Seidenberg as a potential option if it came to it.

"My guess is, if we go deep, he’ll start skating at some point and we’ll just see how he is,” Chiarelli told the Globe.

Added the general manager: "I’m not going to say no, but I’m certainly not going to stand here and say there’s a great chance he’ll be back. I think when the time comes, he’ll be evaluated, but the surgery was a pretty serious one and we have to make a real good decision there."

If it gets to that and the Bruins determine that Seidenberg can play in late May or early June, it would be a game-changer. Why, aside from the fact that it's Dennis Seidenberg?

Dale Arnold raised a great point about this year's postseason recently, noting that, with everyone in agreement that the Western Conference is the stronger and more bruising conference, those teams will wear one another down in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

As such, whichever team represents the West might be down a key player or two by the time they get to the Stanley Cup finals. Should the Bruins reach the finals -- something we should all expect them to do -- and have the opportunity to add the player who has led them in average time on ice the last three postseasons at a time when it's more common to lose players, that could provide a sizable advantage.

Of course, that assumes a lot, but just look at last postseason. The Bruins led the Stanley Cup finals after three games and were two wins away from winning it all, but injuries to their two best players brought their quest for the Cup to a halt.

By the time Seidenberg would be ready, it might not be a matter of whether he'd replace a Matt Bartkowski, an Andrej Meszaros or a Dougie Hamilton. As the B's learned last postseason, multiple defensemen can go down at once, so maybe Seidenberg would tap out a Kevan Miller, a Corey Potter or a Zach Trotman. Remember, the B’s didn’t expect to have to rely on either Bartkowski or Krug entering last postseason.

The team is still hoping that Adam McQuaid can be ready for the playoffs and will go unhindered by his quad strain, but the B’s obviously can’t count on that given how this season has gone for McQuaid. The safe bet is that either McQuaid or Miller will be the team’s third-pairing right side defenseman. Miller led the Bruins with 23:10 of ice time Friday night against the Avalanche.

If Seidenberg comes back with everyone healthy, his experience playing both sides would allow him to provide a boost anywhere in the top four. He could go to his usual postseason spot to Chara's right, or he could Boston's second-pairing left-shot blueliner. Bartkowski, who served that role in the second round against the Rangers last season, is currently in line for that job.

As long as he's cleared to play and can handle the minutes, there would be no reason to hold him back. Bruins fans have probably gotten to the point where they think the Eastern Conference finals are a given, but if you're there and you have any bullets to use, you use them.

If there’s any shot that this can happen, the Bruins are being smart about by tempering expectations. As Chiarelli put it, the team isn’t counting on it, but Seidenberg’s return would be a "bonus." Should it come to that, a really good defensive team getting its second-best defenseman back late in the postseason would be a pretty massive bonus indeed.

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